PETMAN

It's that time again, folks. Time to watch everyone's favorite headless, suit-testing robot, PETMAN, strut his stuff into hypothetical peril. No, wait -- this time our creepy friend has a head and a gas mask! And not only does he walk, he squats, twists, and turns in the uncanny valley of lifelike creepiness, ensuring a place in your nightmares tonight. Designed by Boston Dynamics, PETMAN is used to "test the performance of protective clothing designed for hazardous environments."

You might recall from back in October of last year when footage of DARPA's PETMAN, the headless humanoid robot from Boston Dynamics, was released. The Internet kept cracking jokes about infusing the video with the immortal Bee Gees classic, "Stayin' Alive." Some even attempted said fusion to middling success. As it turns out, folks had been seeing the same funky beat in the robot's movements for years. But now, thanks to YouTube user timtrusler, we finally have a definitive version of PETMAN with true swagger. Even robots can stay alive with the best of them, though they don't take kindly to being pushed.
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When we last saw a robotic humanoid from Boston Dynamics, it was PETMAN strutting it's stuff on a moving walkway and doing pushups. Now, the bot's developers and the Defense Advanced Research Project Agency (DARPA) are showing off a robot with a new and terrifying trick: Walking up stairs. But that might just be a glimpse of what will be coming in the future.
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You've been unnerved by BigDog, the creepy headless quadraped that Boston Dynamics is developing for DARPA; now meet PETMAN, the creepy headless humanoid robot that Boston Dynamics plans to deliver to the U.S. Army next year.
Though currently still in the prototype stage, this incredible biped can run 4.4 miles per hour, has a full range of motion that mimics the human body, and auto-corrects is balance, all within a frame similar to that of a human. But the final version of the robot will pack even more features, including a head, weight at a mere 180 pounds -- analogous to a typical human male, and capable of mimicing perspiration and changes in skin temperature. Considering all that, the $26.3 million in seed money it took to get PETMAN on his feet seems like small potatoes.
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